The Double Standards of Israeli “Justice”
Archive: Supreme Court (Image credit: Ya'acov Sa'ar/Government Press Office of Israel)
Once again it has happened. The sickening sight of Israeli security forces dragging Jews from their homes as bulldozers destroy buildings, dreams, and an idealistic innocent desire to still have some faith in our Jewish government and courts.
In the Gush Etzion bloc, near the village of Elazar (named after a Maccabeean hero who died a martyr's death on the site), there is an area called Netiv Ha'avot, which means the Road of the Patriarchs (this was the road that our forefathers walked at the beginning of our history as a nation).
On this small piece of land, an EU supported Israeli NGO fulfilled the mission of their generous paymasters: They located a parcel of land where the Jewish presence could be challenged in the very compliant Israeli courts. They swing at many balls and hope to score a hit - another forceful expulsion of Jews from Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel).
They hit a home run this time.
Once again Jewish soldiers and police were given orders to destroy, drag, and humiliate the best young people that we have.
Some of the homes of these patriotic pioneers were deemed to be partially built on private "Palestinian" land. What is in question is less than a three-foot area of part of the buildings. The residents offered to destroy the small area in question on their own, but the "Supreme" Court would not have it. They ordered full-scale and total destruction - again.
The same court has a far different approach to land disputes of another kind. In the Negev desert, thousands of Bedouin have established scores of squatter communities on government land. They are bribed, cajoled, and pleaded with, and the squatters always hold out for more. They know that that is the best strategy with the Jewish state apparatus. The courts have tons of patience with their concerns and sensibilities. The government is in fear of rebuke from the EU, staunch allies of the Arab squatters. This is a Crusade that Europe is determined to win, and the Jews shake in fear.
On privately owned Jewish land in the Negev, the courts and enforcement agencies drag their feet and keep on dragging and dragging as the squatters dig in and expand, knowing full well how the story will end.
“Return Our Judges”
Last Wednesday, the courts handed down a 30-year sentence to an Arab who tried murdering a Jew with an ax in 2016. (There was a time when everyone remembered the exact time and date of an Arab attack on a Jew, but since the Oslo catastrophe and terror avalanche, one needs a computer chip in one's brain programmed solely for recording Arab attacks on Jews in order to remember).
The young Arab would-be killer failed in his “holy” mission - but not for lack of effort. He hacked his Jewish victim around thirty times before he fled and was caught. Years later, the victim is still in intensive rehab. His life and that of his family will never be the same.
The courts, however, expressed empathy for the Arab youth (in his twenties) on his “holy” mission. They stressed that he "has his whole life ahead of him," and it would be a pity to put him away for life.
Do not think that Israel is a state bereft of law or of well-educated judges. Sodom and Gomorra could boast the same no doubt, as did the USSR.
When we pray thrice daily that "G-d return our judges to us as once before," the authors knew why they included this prayer.
A few years ago the courts came to a decision of precedent. Arabs must be allowed to move into any place in the country, including small Jewish communities whose residents chose to live there because of its particular Jewish nature and life. This was the mission of the Jewish National Fund that raised tons of money abroad: to acquire and settle land for Jews in Israel. It was an understood source of pride.
Something has changed.
When the question arises about the rights of Jews to do the same and move into Arab areas, the same "enlightened" crowd protests and points out a basic difference. They explain to us non-enlightened that Jews are the majority and the "stronger" community in Israel. Therefore they can not feel culturally threatened, while the Arab minority must be allowed to preserve their cultural identity and autonomy, and hence the double standard.
Note: These are not British Mandate officials or other anti-semites. Far worse. They are the self-haters whose greatest fear more than anything else is a real Jewish state.
But their days are numbered and they know it. The Jewish people are not stupid.
Shalom Pollack, veteran licensed tour guide, is the director of Shalom Pollack Tours: Personalized Tours in Israel.
